


Actions Speak Louder Than Words

by generictrashh



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Muteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-04-25 00:46:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14367285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generictrashh/pseuds/generictrashh
Summary: The Straw Hat crew are ready to embark on the greatest journey of their life and enter the Grand Line but before they do, they make a quick stop at a small village where they save a permanently silent girl with an ironic devil fruit ability from her abusive father.





	1. Senryaku Island

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chapter 1 - Senryaku Island

Straw Hat Crew POV

“Usopp! Zoro! Are you two fine with guarding the ship while we get some supplies?” Nami called as she stepped down to the dock.

“Of course! Just leave it to me, Captain Usopp The Great!” Usopp exclaims as he strikes a pose of confidence.

Nami nodded before noticing Luffy running for the nearest restaurant, “OI, LUFFY! WAIT!”

“Nami-swaaaan! Wait for me, my love!” Sanji shouts as he rushes to catch up with Nami with a love-struck look in his eye.

Usopp sat down against the mast of the ship and started working on one of his new bombs. As he continued to work, Zoro walked out from the kitchen and jumped down to the dock.

“Oi, Zoro! Where are you going?!” Usopp screams as he noticed the swordsman walking away.

“Just going for a stroll,” Zoro calls back without turning around.

Usopp grumbles as he turns back to his work, “it doesn’t look like this place has any bandits or pirates so I should be safe on my own for a while.”

Luffy’s group POV

“This tastes really good, baa-san!” Luffy mumbles out as he scarfed down a bowl of pork ramen.

“This is delicious! You must give me the recipe, Kirina-san!” Sanji said as he ate his noodles.

“Thank you, young man. Remind to give it to you before you go. And you’re the second person I’ve met who could eat so much in one sitting, Luffy-san,” The old woman smiled from behind the counter as she prepared another helping for them.

“Second? There’s someone who can eat more than Luffy?” Nami looked at the old woman with wide eyes.

The old woman turned to Nami and nodded. With a sad smile on her face, she continued, “she was such a free-spirited young girl. Always had a smile on her face and would keep going on and on about how she would get a voice and sing for people someday.”

“Ah! That’s great! I could use a singer on my crew!” Luffy slammed his bowl down with a grin.

“What do you mean “she was”, Kirina-san? Where is she now?” Nami asked the old woman, hitting Luffy on the head to shut him up.

“Well, that’s a little hard to explain. You see, this girl was born with a little handicap. When she came out of her mother’s womb, she cried and cried all night…. but she didn’t make a single sound.”

“Eh? How is that possible?” Nami raised an eyebrow at the old woman.

“She’s a mute. We didn’t know how or why but in all the time her mother took care of her, she never uttered a single sound out of her mouth,” They all paused in their eating to listen to the woman’s tale.

“Despite not being able to speak, she was able to communicate with people in her own way. She had a way with actions that made us understand her. Hell, she even made up her own language through hand symbols but none of us really got to understand it,” 

“Wow! She must be really smart to be able to make her own language!” Nami praised.

“She definitely is. However, she changed when her mother died when she was only 8 years old. Her father had come home one night and found out that his wife had given birth. He never knew about his child so he assumed she had cheated on him and killed her on the spot with his child watching the entire thing,” The old woman paused in her cooking to wipe a couple tears from her face.

“After that night, nothing was ever the same again. Her father had stayed and proceeded to abuse his child. Mentally, physically, emotionally… sexually. Everyone in the village wanted nothing more than to save her from him but we couldn’t. He’s a pirate, after all,” the old woman paused as she looked at their reactions.

Nami sat speechless with tears in her eyes and Sanji glared at his food while Luffy had his head down, a dark veil covering his eyes.

“Baa-san,” Luffy started, his voice low and serious, “where is this girl now?”

The old woman sighed, “There is a reason I told you this story. You may be pirates but I knew from the second I saw you that you people have good hearts. And that is why I have a favor to ask you,” she paused as she took a deep breathe, “young man, will you please save that girl from her father?”

Luffy slowly got up from his seat and looked up at the woman, a look of determination on his face, “Don’t worry, baa-san. I will.” With that, Luffy marched out of the restaurant, ignoring the looks he was getting from the villagers.

“Kirina-san, what’s her name and where does she live? We’ll find her faster that way,” Nami demanded quickly while Sanji quickly followed their captain.

“Her name is Mai and she lives in a small house near the ocean,” Nami nodded and ran out, calling after Luffy. The old woman smiled as she put away the three bowls.

“Please, save her. I have faith in you, Luffy-san,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story a little over a year ago and decided I might as well post it somewhere so I can find it again if my laptop ever dies on me. Sorry for any grammatical and spelling errors I may have missed.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize the character or song, it doesn't belong to me.


	2. Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hat crew meet Mai and save her from unfortunate circumstances

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chapter 2 - Justice

Zoro walked along the shores of the island, overlooking the ocean. He had wanted to go to the town but had somehow lost his way.

“Where the hell is that town?” Zoro asked himself, scratching the back of his head in frustration.

Zoro turned his head as he heard screaming come from a tiny house.

“YOU”RE A WHORE! JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER!” A hand slapping hard against flesh filled the air and Zoro had a bad feeling about what was happening in the house.

Zoro ran towards the house, ignoring the people walking by with their heads low, and his anger started to grow as he listened to the man scream.

“YOUR MOTHER WAS A SLUT! I SHOULD HAVE KEPT HER FOR ENTERTAINMENT!”

“SHE DESERVED TO DIE! AND YOU WILL DIE JUST LIKE HER WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU!”

“A MUTE BITCH LIKE YOU IS THE PERFECT FUCK TOY!”

Zoro kicked the door to the house down and what he saw made him shake in anger. A girl not much younger than him was tied to a table with tears streaming down her face while a man stood behind her and defiled her.

Zoro’s face twisted in anger and felt the sudden urge to kill the man. Before Zoro could reach for his swords, Luffy had come running past him and punched the man as hard as he could.

“GOMU GOMU NO BAZOOKA!” The man flew through the wall of the house and several trees before coming to a stop. 

Sanji, who was right behind Luffy, followed the man’s body and proceeded to kick the man.

“COTELLETE!” Sanji exclaimed as he drove his foot into the man’s rib.

Before the man had a chance to get up, if he even could at this point, Zoro came running towards him with one of his swords, “HIRYU: KAEN!”

The man dropped to the ground as his body is engulfed in blue flames and all three men stood next to his body, looking down at the man with anger written all over their faces.

While the three men dealt with the abusive man, Nami had untied the girl from the table and hugged the girl crying silently against her.

“Shh… Shh… it’s okay. You’re safe now. You won’t have to see him anymore after today, Mai-san,” Nami said as she comforted the young girl. Nami watched as Zoro dragged the man’s burnt body by the shirt as he, Luffy and Sanji walked back into the house.

“Is he dead?” Nami asked as Zoro dropped the body on the rubble.

“If not, he will be,” Zoro muttered although everyone heard him.

Sanji took his jacket off and handed it to Nami who used it to cover the shaking girl. Zoro looked at Luffy who was staring at the girl and already knew what he wanted.

“Nami, get her some clothes. She’s coming with us,” Luffy ordered without missing a beat.

“Eh? What do you mean she’s coming with us? Luffy, she can’t be a pirate! She probably hates pirates!” Nami screamed at Luffy but stopped when she felt the girl flinch.

“Sorry,” Nami whispered to the girl before turning back to Luffy, “She can’t come with us. You’ve dealt with her father. She’s safe now.”

Before Luffy and Nami could start arguing, Zoro stepped in, “we should let the girl rest for now then ask her what she wants before we leave.”

Luffy stayed silent but nodded and after a while, Nami nodded as well. Nami turned to the girl who had stopped crying but was still shaking, “let’s get you into some clothes then we’ll take you to the old woman who works in the ramen shop.”

The girl slowly nodded and Nami guided her to one of the rooms that looked like it belonged to the girl, leaving the three men outside.

“Hey, Zoro,” Zoro turned to Sanji, “why are you here?”

Zoro glared as he turned to look back at the body of the man they had just beat up, “I heard him screaming from outside and decided to check out what was happening. I kicked the door down as soon as I got here and was ready to kill the man the second I saw what he was doing,” he turned back to Sanji with a raised eyebrow, “what about you guys?”

Mai POV

While the three boys talked outside, the girl with orange hair sat me down on the bed as she went through my closet.

“I’m Nami, by the way. The old woman at the restaurant told us everything about you,” Nami said with a tone of sadness as she took out some underwear, a tshirt and some shorts.

“About what Luffy said, you don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to. We’re a pirate crew and we’re planning on going to the Grand Line soon so it’s going to be really dangerous. If you want to stay here, we won’t mind,” I stared at the girl who was smiling at me. It’s been so long since anyone had treated me with such kindness.

I managed to give her a small smile back which seemed to make her happy. She walked back towards me with the clothes she got and put them down next to me.

“I’ll let you get ready then we can both go back to that restaurant while Zoro, Sanji and Luffy take the man far, far away,” Nami said before going outside to where the boys were.

I looked down at the clothes she had gotten. I grabbed the shorts and put them back before pulling out a long pair of pants. I wasn’t comfortable wearing clothes that exposed too much skin anymore. 

I took off the jacket that Nami had put around me. It was big but it fit nicely around me and gave me a sense of comfort. I quickly folded it and put on my clothes and shoes before walking out.

As soon as I stepped out, I found the same four people staring back at me and my father’s body still laying down on the rubble. I stared at his body and as memories of his abuse came back, I started to shake again. 

My eyes widened as I felt someone pull me by the arm and wrap their arms around me. I stood frozen as they hugged me against them.

“Hey,” I blinked and looked up to find the boy wearing a straw hat grinning down at me, “You’re okay now. We’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. I don’t know why but I believed him. My eyes started to water and I hugged him back tightly, feeling thankful for the first time in 10 years.

Straw Hat Crew POV

Zoro smirked as he watched the two hug near him. Their captain definitely had a way of capturing people’s hearts and now, Zoro knew they just got a new crew member. And after hearing her story from Sanji, he was more than happy to welcome her into the group.

Sanji chuckled quietly, thinking the exact same thing as Zoro. He agreed with Luffy completely. She had to come with them. She had nothing left in the village and staying would only make her relive memories she’d be better off without.

Nami smiled and knew that there was no disagreeing with Luffy now. She knew Luffy would take care of her just like he did with the rest of his crew but she was still worried about the poor girl. She spent 10 years of her life being abused and with where they’re going, violence wouldn’t be scarce. 

Luffy let go of the girl and laughed, “Alright then! Let’s go back to the restaurant! The old lady wants to see you!”

The girl blinked but nodded, a small smile on her face. Luffy grinned as he grabbed her hand then ran off, pulling the girl along with him.

“That idiot! She’s still recovering!” Nami screamed, an anger mark popping on her forehead. She ran off after Luffy, leaving Sanji and Zoro alone.

Sanji walked into the girl’s room, pulling out a bag he found tucked away in a corner then proceeded to put clothes from her closet into the bag.

“Oi, idiot cook. What are you doing?” Sanji’s eye twitched at the swordsman’s nickname but continued to pack away the girl’s clothes.

“She’s obviously going to join us so I’m packing her bags. That way, we can leave immediately,” Sanji zipped the bag shut and slung it over his shoulder. Before he left the room, he noticed his jacket folded neatly on the bed. Sanji smiled and stuffed it into the bag before walking out.

Zoro turned away from Sanji to face the man’s body. Remembering what he saw as soon as kicked the door down made his blood boil again. He walked over to the man’s body and crouched next to it. He grabbed the man’s wrist and checked for a pulse, frowning when he felt the familiar beat.

“Is he dead?” Sanji asked, his face devoid of emotion as he stared down at the body.

“No. Just unconscious,” Zoro stood up and frowned. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and was about to draw it out but Sanji grabbed his hand.

“As much as I want to see him dead, it’s up to Mai-chan. He may have treated her badly but he is still her father,” Sanji glared.

Zoro let go of his sword and folded his arms against his chest, “what do we do about him for now then? Our ship doesn’t have a jail cell.”

“Like I said, it’s up to Mai-chan. For now, just leave him there. If we’re lucky, maybe he’ll explode,” Sanji joked as he walked out of the house. Zoro rolled his eyes before following the blond cook as they walked back to the restaurant.

Mai POV

I smiled as Kirina-baa-san hugged me tightly. When Luffy ran in the ramen shop with me behind him, Kirina tackled me almost instantly and hasn’t let go of me ever since. I listened to her sob and apologize as I rubbed her back in a comforting way. I knew why no one had come to rescue me. I had forgiven them long ago.

“Oh, Mai-chan. You’re as beautiful as your mother when she was your age,” The old woman finally let go and stroked my cheek, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

“Now then! Let’s get you some ramen. My favorite customer is finally back!” Kirina pulled me along and sat me down next to Luffy who grinned at me before turning back to his food. I looked at the pile of bowls next to him, raised an eyebrow and smiled. It had been so long since I had eaten ramen and I was ready to eat as much as I could.

Kirina laughed as she noticed the look of determination on my face as I stared at Luffy’s pile of bowls. I nodded at her and she grinned, giving me my first bowl.

For the next hour, Luffy and I had an unspoken food eating competition and so far, I was winning. Even with his head start, I had quickly caught up and eaten more bowls than he had.

That was how the rest of Luffy’s crew found us. Nami had come in with bags on her arms which I assumed were full of clothes and food. She simply gawked at Luffy and I as we quickly ate our food. Sanji and Zoro, although I had no idea which was which, walked in a few moments after Nami and had about the same reaction.  
Our little contest ended when Luffy got full and fell asleep on the floor. I grinned down at his sleeping body as I continued to eat my ramen at a slower pace. I quickly counted our bowls and I grinned widely as I realize I won with 34 bowls to Luffy’s 31. 

“That’s my girl! I see your appetite has only grown throughout the years!” Kirina laughed and I smiled, nodding in thanks for all the food. I motioned for the bill and the old woman shook her head.

“It’s on the house, dear. Starting today, you and your friends eat for free here any time you want,” my eyes went wide and I hopped off my seat and ran to the back of the counter to give Kirina a tight hug, knowing it would be futile to disagree with her.

“You’re welcome, dear. Now, why don’t you join your friends at their table?” I smiled and nodded. I walked back to the other side of the counter and crouched down to pick up Luffy’s sleeping body. I carried him bridal style over to his friend’s table and plopped him down on one of the chairs.

“You’re pretty strong to be able to carry him like that without waivering,” The guy with green hair said and I raised an eyebrow. Luffy wasn’t all that heavy despite eating so much. I simply smiled and shrugged to say, “he isn’t that heavy.”

“So, we’ll be leaving pretty soon. I’ve already packed your bag for you in case you said yes but you can still back down if you want,” the man with blond hair said, as he showed me one of the bags I had kept in my room, “Although, now that Luffy’s taken a liking to you, I don’t think he’ll take no as an answer.”

Before I could answer, Kirina stepped in, “Oh? What’s this about?”

“Luffy asked, well, actually more like demand, that Mai-chan join our pirate crew,” Nami answered and I bit my lip, scared at how Kirina would react.

“Oh…,” I turned my head and stared at Kirina with sad eyes. We had been apart for so long and now that I’m free, I didn’t want to leave her again. But…

“Well, I’m sure she’ll fit right in with your crew,” my eyes grew wide as Kirina smiled at me. I could feel tears threaten to spill as she hugged me. I hugged her back and we stood there for what seemed like forever. Unfortunately, our moment had to end.

“YOU!” The door to the restaurant opened and my father stood in the doorway with a look of pure rage on his face. Before I could react, Nami had pushed me behind her as Zoro and Sanji stood in front of us.

“HOW DARE YOU COME INTO MY HOME? DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I SHOULD REPORT YOU FOR KIDNAPPING AND VIOLENCE. THAT GIRL BELONGS TO ME AND SHE WILL CONTINUE TO BE UNTIL THE DAY SHE DIES,” he screamed and I shook from my spot behind Nami and Kirina.

It seemed like time had slowed down. Everyone was standing still, waiting for someone to make the first move. My father stood silently as he glared at us all and I noticed Zoro and Sanji shift their stances.

As soon as my father put one foot forward, the blond man who lent me his jacket shot forward and kicked my father outside.

“Nami, stay here with Mai-san and Kirina-san. I’ll help Sanji outside,” Nami nodded and who I assumed to be Zoro walked away. Before he walked out, he locked eyes with me and I knew what he was asking. 

I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. I knew my father was never going to change now. And if he stayed while I left, who knew what he would do to the people in this village. I opened my eyes and stared into Zoro’s eyes. With a nod, he quickly turned and left.

I walked to the window and watched Sanji and Zoro quickly dispose of my father. I knew both of them were more than enough to deal with that man but why they both had to do it, I didn’t know.

The sound of steel slicing through flesh filled the air and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. It was officially over and I felt happy but also sad at the same time. I walked out the restaurant and stopped next to Zoro. I looked down at my father’s body and noticed he was still breathing. 

I raised an eyebrow at Zoro but he shrugged before pointing to the beach. I turned my head and noticed that a Marine ship was docked.

“Your father says he used to work under Don Krieg so if you hand him over to the Marines, I’m sure they’ll deal with him for you,” Zoro said as he put his arm on my head and leaned on me. I frowned at him which only got me a smirk back and I couldn’t help but smile.

“My, my, the Marines are here too? This is an exciting day so far,” I turned my head back to see Kirina walking towards us. She stopped right next to my father’s body and frowned down at him

“I’ll bring him to the Marines. Explain to them that a group of teens saved a young girl today from her abusive father and since it’s such a small village, we had nowhere to put him other than the ground,” I smiled and nodded at Kirina who crouched down to grab my father’s shirt and proceeded to drag him to the Marine’s ship.

“I guess we better get going then. We can’t stick around with the Marines here,” Zoro said as he took his arm off my head. I looked back at the restaurant and noticed Sanji had grabbed my bag and Nami was dragging a still sleeping Luffy by the back of his shirt.

I looked around at my village and noticed some villagers looking at me with a look of sadness and guilt in their eyes. I simply smiled at them and waved goodbye as the Straw Hat crew, my friends, and I ran from the Marines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story a little over a year ago and decided I might as well post it somewhere so I can find it again if my laptop ever dies on me. Sorry for any grammatical and spelling errors I may have missed.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize the character or song, it doesn't belong to me.


	3. Uta Uta no Mi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew discovers Mai's special ability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suggest listening to the song while reading the lyrics. If you've got an over-active imagination like me, it should be easy to picture the scenes.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chapter 3 - Uta Uta no Mi

Mai POV

As soon as we boarded the ship, everyone got to work to escape before the Marines could catch up with us. They were busy with Kirina and my father but the ocean of East Blue was small and we’d be easily found if we didn’t get a big head start.

After a short while, we had managed to sail far enough from our island that we couldn’t see it anymore. I sat on the railing of the boat and smiled as I watched everyone go about their business.

“Mai-chaaaan! Do you need any water, ice cream, pasta, or maybe some love?” I laughed silently as Sanji came up to me with hearts in his eyes. I shook my head no and grinned at him as if to say, “I’m fine but thank you.” He nodded and ran off screaming for Nami.

“Mai-san! Welcome aboard my crew! I am the great Captain Usopp!” I turned my head and raised an eyebrow at the long-nosed man. According to Nami, Luffy was their captain and now, this man was saying that he was.

“Don’t confuse her. Luffy’s our captain,” Zoro bonked Usopp on the head as he approached us. I smiled at him before turning back to Usopp. I stuck my hand out for him to shake and he accepted.

“So, Mai-san, have any special talents we ought to know about?” Usopp asked but before I could try and answer in a way he could understand, Zoro stepped in.

“Before she answers you, you should know that she can’t talk so try not to get confused by her gestures,” I grinned at Zoro, thankful that I won’t have to try and explain that part.

“Ohhh! I thought you were just quiet! Well, at least we won’t have someone else screaming on this ship,” I grinned at Usopp and laughed silently.

“Well, back to my question. Do you have any special talents? Everyone on this ship kinda has one although it isn’t intentional. We just have things that we’re better at than others,” At this point, Luffy had come out and sat on his spot on Merry’s head, Nami was standing by the mast and looking at the sky and Sanji was up at the crow’s nest. It was the perfect time to show my weird ability.

I hopped off the railing of the boat and motioned for Usopp and Zoro to follow me. I walked to the front of the ship to where Luffy was sitting so he could see my power as well. It only felt right to include the captain in this thing.

They stood to the side of me, watching me silently, and I took a deep breath.

I opened my mouth and felt the music flow out. I sang and listened to the words vibrate across the ocean surface and create ripples that moved along to the sound. 

“Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I'd just stare out my window  
Dreaming of what could be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray

Trying hard to reach out  
But when I tried to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me  
Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I prayed I could break away

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky  
And I'll make a wish  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I love  
I'll take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway”

I closed my mouth and opened my eyes to see the crew staring at me with wide eyes.

“YOU CAN SING?” They all screamed and I grinned.

“B-but we thought you were mute,” Nami stuttered out and I shrugged and nodded as if to say, “I am but I can sing too.”

I scrunched my face, thinking of a way on how to explain to them when I remembered how Luffy had attacked my father. I grinned at them and made my way over to Luffy who had fallen off Merry’s head and was standing near me. I grabbed his face and stretched it before turning to the others and pointing to Luffy.

“Someone stretched your face?” I rolled my eyes and face-palmed at what Usopp said. I frowned at him before grabbing Luffy’s arm and stretching it then grabbing his arm and pulling as if to say, “Luffy has a power that makes him stretch and you don’t.”

Zoro seemed to understand quicker than anyone else what I was saying which was starting to seem sweet but also kind of creepy how he knew what I meant before anyone else.

“You ate a devil fruit?” I nodded frantically at Zoro and clapped. He chuckled at my antics and I grinned at him.

“COOL! We have a singer now!” I jumped as Luffy grabbed me by the hands and started dancing me around. I laughed silently as Luffy sang a drunken sailor’s song.

As I started to get dizzy, I felt hands grab me by my shoulders and pull me to a stop and deattach me from Luffy. I turned my head to see Zoro smirking down at me and I smiled back.

“You know, if you can sing, you could just sing whatever you wanted to say and it’d be just like talking,” Zoro said and I blinked. I stared at him for few seconds before making an “OH!” expression on my face.

He laughed at my expression and I pouted. He ruffled my hair and I grinned. Everyone soon went back to what they were doing as I thought of what Zoro said and decided to give it a shot.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth but no sound came out. I frowned and turned back to the water. I opened my mouth and tried sing my name out but it didn’t. My hands clenched at my sides as I struggled to sing my name out. A single syllable. But it didn’t.

After a while, it became dark and everyone had gone to sleep. Nami had given me a spare bed to sleep in but I told her I didn’t need it. She seemed confused at first but figured it was best not to question me since I’d have a hard time explaining.

The thing is I barely slept anymore. For the past 9 years, I’ve learned to stay awake for days and survive on only a few minutes of sleep. My father never gave me a moment to rest and I learned how to deal with it.

I walked to the back of the ship, careful to keep my footsteps light to not make any floorboards creak.

For the next few hours, I drowned myself in my thoughts. I thought of what my father would be going through, if Kirina was alright, what would happen to my old house, how I could get my new friends to understand me better and before I knew it, the sun was starting to rise.

I watched the sunrise and took a deep breath as I felt the light hit my face. Memories of my childhood flashed in my mind and I smiled. I opened my mouth and let the words flow.

“I've been staring at the edge of the water  
Long as I can remember, never really knowing why  
I wish I could be the perfect daughter  
But I come back to the water, no matter how hard I try

Every turn I take, every trail I track  
Every path I make, every road leads back  
To the place I know where I cannot go  
Where I long to be

See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me  
And no one knows, how far it goes  
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me  
One day I'll know  
If I go there's just no telling how far I'll go

I know everybody on this island seems so happy, on this island  
Everything is by design  
I know everybody on this island has a role, on this island  
So maybe I can roll with mine

I can lead with pride, I can make us strong  
I'll be satisfied if I play along  
But the voice inside sings a different song  
What is wrong with me?

See the light as it shines on the sea? It's blinding  
But no one knows, how deep it goes  
And it seems like it's calling out to me, so come find me  
And let me know  
What's beyond that line, will I cross that line?

See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me  
And no one knows, how far it goes  
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me  
One day I'll know  
How far I'll go.”

I jumped as I heard clapping behind me. I quickly turned to see Zoro standing there with his smirk on his face.

“I guess you can only sing how you feel and not what you want to say, huh?” Zoro said as he walked closer to me while looking at the sunrise.

I nodded, remembering how I tried singing my name again last night, but it didn’t work no matter how hard I tried. He smirked at me and ruffled my hair.

“Sanji said that Kirina told them how you created your own language so people could understand you better but no one learned how. Mind teaching it to me?” I blinked at the sudden and unexpected question. I grinned and nodded. Having at least one person understand what I said would be great and Zoro seemed to understand me the most out of everyone.

I plopped down on the floor and motioned for him to sit down too. He raised his eyebrow at me but sat down anyways. I smiled and brought my hand up, forming it into a clench with my fingers facing him and my thumb pointing outwards on the side. I motioned for to do the same with his hand and nodded when he got it right. I opened my mouth and formed how someone would say “ah” with my lips.

“This is for a?” He asked and I grinned at him, happy that he understood quickly. The rest of the japanese alphabet would be easy now.

I continued teaching him the rest and it was amazing to have someone finally understand. He would sometimes trick me and play the fool, acting like he’d forgotten some symbols then answer back perfectly. As soon as Zoro had understood the symbols, I started forming sentences which took him a while as he would confuse some symbols with each other but he understood enough to understand what I was trying to say. 

Soon, Sanji called everyone down to eat and I was happy to not only have someone understand me now but also to have spent time with a friend.

“Mai-chaaan! How are you? Have you been spending time with seaweed head all morning? You poor, poor girl,” I laughed silently as Zoro glared at Sanji and they got into an argument.

“Mai-chan, where were you? I didn’t see you when I woke up this morning,” I turned my head to see Nami sitting on the table with a map and a glass of juice in front of her.

I pointed to Zoro and made several symbols with my hand. She seemed to be confused but didn’t question it. Probably because I mentioned I was with Zoro.

“She was teaching me the language she had made. I figured having at least one of us understand her completely would make her life easier,” Zoro spoke up from next to me. I jumped as I didn’t notice he was so near me and I frowned up at him. He only smirked back at me and ruffled my hair again.

“Oh? And why are you the one who got to learn it, seaweed head?” I smiled as Zoro’s eye twitched and he looked up to glare at Sanji who was putting plates of food down on the table.

“Because so far, I’m the only one who’s managed to understand her the most, swirly brow,” I laughed silently at Zoro’s nickname for Sanji and didn’t even react when Zoro put his arm on my head and leaned against me again.

So far, Zoro had been the person I’m closest to on the crew. Not in a big brother way and friend wasn’t really an accurate term but for now, it was the closest.  
“That’s great! I spoke with Kirina-san while you and Luffy were having an eating contest and she told me you had a knack for planning,” Nami said happily and I blinked as I hadn’t realized I did. Now that I thought about it, I was always was prepared for everything. I smiled at Nami and nodded.

“Alright! Now that you’re part of the crew, you get your own share of work. Luffy’s the captain but he doesn’t really do anything but give orders or help out with some manual labor. I take care of navigating, Sanji’s the cook, Usopp is the lookout and Zoro is the first mate. Since you’re good at preparation, I thought you could be good at being the quartermaster who’s in charge of overseeing the ship preparations and if the ship is ready to set sail,” I listened intently as Nami explained the roled of the crew and what I would be doing. I nodded and agreed with my position.

“Okay then, it seems like you understand clearly. Good! Finally, someone smart unlike the rest of the people on this ship,” I grinned as Nami put her head down on the table and sighed.

Soon, Luffy and Usopp came to join us in the kitchen and everyone ate heartily. I grinned when Sanji put down a bowl of Kirina’s ramen in front of me and gave him a tight hug which made him “melt with love.” I noticed Zoro frown when I hugged Sanji but I shrugged it off as maybe he was still mad about their argument. The rest of the day passed by without a worry and soon, nightfall came again but I still couldn’t sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story a little over a year ago and decided I might as well post it somewhere so I can find it again if my laptop ever dies on me. Sorry for any grammatical and spelling errors I may have missed.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize the character or song, it doesn't belong to me.


	4. Entering Grand Line

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chapter 4 - Entering Grand Line

Mai POV

“”Nami-san! I have a report of love!” I looked up at the crow’s nest to where Sanji and Zoro were looking out of and smiled at Sanji’s antics.

“I see big rain clouds up ahead! There’s a storm under them!” Sanji was peering out of a pair of binoculars at a large sea of dark clouds ahead of us.

“Looks like we’re back on our original course…” Nami said from right next to me. She looked down at the map in her hands and continued, “We should be seeing the Red Line at any time now.”

I watched as Luffy stretched his arms up to the crow’s nest and boosted himself up to stand next to Sanji.

“The Grand Line at last!” Luffy grinned as he looked towards the sea. I grinned as Luffy started to bang his hand on Sanji’s back, unaware of Sanji’s expression, “Hey, Sanji! We’re finally going! We’re finally going!”

“That hurts!” Sanji brought his leg up and smashed it against Luffy’s face.

“Sorry,” Luffy muttered out.

I laughed silently as Luffy turned his attention to Zoro and all three men started to get rowdy. I turned my head to look at Nami and from the expression on her face, I could tell she was worried about something.

Deciding to be helpful, I went into Kitchen to fix a drink for Nami and everyone else. Sanji had taught me how to operate some of the appliances in our little kitchen so I could help him out at times and I was happy to learn.

I glanced at Usopp was standing a few feet away from me, handling the rudder and whistling his own little tune. I turned my head back to the glasses in front of me and went back to working on the drinks.

A few moments later, Nami and the others came in and headed for the table. I got out from the kitchen and handed Luffy a glass of juice. I smiled as he downed it almost immediately but held the glass with his teeth.

“Look at this!” Nami put down the map she was holding on the table for everyone to see. I went around a put down a glass of juice for everyone and sat Usopp’s down on the table as well. I decided to sit next to Zoro once I was done distributing everyone’s drinks. He flashed me a smirk and I smiled back at him.

My attention went back to Nami as she continued, “I’d heard the rumors about it and it’s drawn on this map too! If it really is true, then the entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain.”  
I blinked as Nami pointed to what looked to a map of a mountain. I didn’t know much about map reading but I knew enough to know that the water is blue and on the map Nami was showing, they were flowing in from four different points and meeting at the point of the mountain.

“A mountain?” Luffy asked, his glass still in his mouth.

“We gotta crash into a mountain?” Zoro looked at Nami with a bored expression.

“You can’t be serious,” Sanji included.

“I didn’t believe it myself but the map has canals that lead to the mountain. That might mean we have to go up it!” Nami concluded.

“Neat!” Luffy smiled and I couldn’t help but silently giggle. There was something about his positivity that always made me smile.

“What’re you talking about? Even if there are canals or whatever, a ship can’t climb a mountain,” I turned my head and stuck my tongue out at Zoro for being such a Negative Nancy and he simply smirked at me.

“But that’s what the map says!” Nami turned to Zoro, ignoring our little interaction.

“Yeah! Nami-san would never say anything wrong!” Sanji exclaimed, joining in on the “disagree with Zoro” train.

Zoro didn’t budge and continued to voice his doubts, “You stole that map from Buggy, right? Can we really trust it?” I raised my eyebrow and wondered who Buggy was but considering the situation, I couldn’t ask who he was anyways.

“H-Hey! Someone help with the rudder!” We all heard Usopp scream and everyone ignored him but I turned to him and raised my brow at him.

“Sanji-kun! Give Usopp a hand! I can’t think with all his shouting!” Nami demanded as Usopp continued to scream in the background.

“Yes, Nami-san!” I watched as the blond cook moved over to Usopp and put his hands on the rudder as well. His lovestruck expression disappeared when the rudder didn’t budge as he and Usopp tried to move it.

“D-Doesn’t this current seem a bit strong?” Usopp screamed which made Nami snap out of her thoughts and turn to Usopp.

“Eh? Usopp! What did you just say?” Nami asked.

“D-Doesn’t this current seem a bit strong?” Usopp repeated.

“Current… That’s it!” We all turned our heads back to Nami.

“That’s what?” Luffy asked.

“They really do go up the mountain!” Nami said, staring at the map in front of her.

“Are you still saying that stuff?” Zoro said, continuing to be his skeptical self.

“Look here!” We all looked down to where Nami was pointing on the map.

“See? The guiding light was definitely pointing to here on the Red Line… Reverse Mountain!” Nami explained as Sanji joined us back at the table to look at the map as well.

“Hey! Little help over here!” Usopp bellowed. I laughed silently and moved to get up from my seat to at least make an effort in helping Usopp but before I could get out, a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist. I looked down and saw Zoro gripping my wrist but kept his head focused on the map. I giggled silently and sat back down as Nami continued with her explanation.

“See these canals here?” She pointed to each of the four streams of water and demonstrated their flow with her finger, “If major currents from the four oceans all flow toward this mountain, then the four currents would go up these canals, collide at the top, and then flow into the Grand Line!”

“Reverse Mountain is a winter island so any currents that collide into the Red Line will plummet from the surface to the depths. If we screw up and miss the entrance to the canal, The Going Merry will run smack into the Red Line’s rock face and get wrecked.And then we’d be at the bottom of the ocean. Understand?” Nami ended.

“Oh! Interesting!”Luffy started, “So , basically, it’s a mystery mountain!” I smiled as Luffy ignored all the potential dangers Nami had said and laughed instead.

Nami sighed as Luffy contined to laugh and spoke again, “Well, maybe you don’t get it… Anyways, now that we’re on this current, as long as we don’t mess up with the rudder, we should be able to go straight to the summit of Reverse Mountain.”

I bit my lip and giggled silently as I turned my head back to Usopp who was now glaring at Nami. I truly wanted to try and help him even if I knew someone as weak as me wouldn’t make a difference but Zoro still had a grip on my wrist and I couldn’t get up.

“Nami-san! You’re so amazing!” Sanji exclaimed with a lovestruck expression back on his face.

“I’ve never heard of ships going over mountains before,” Zoro sighed as he closed his eyes.

Sanji turned to Zoro with a wide grin on his face, “I’ve heard some stuff before!”

“Stories about the mystery mountain?” Luffy turned to Sanji.

“No,” Sanji started, “I heard that half of everyone who heads to the Grand Line dies before entering it…. I knew getting in wouldn’t be easy.”

With that, the crew meeting ended and we all went about our business but the rain soon started as we neared the rain clouds Sanji had seen earlier.

“Sanji-kun! Could you get the sail?” 

“Yes, Nami-san! Luffy! Help out!”

“EH?!”

I smiled as Luffy ran out the meeting room to tie the sails and I went around gathering the empty glasses on the table. I quickly deposited them in the sink and was about to start washing them when we all heard Luffy yell outside.

“Hey! I see the mystery mountain!” 

We all ran outside and gazed at the large wall in front of us. I stood next to Usopp and Zoro as the rain pelted down on us.

“T-That’s insanely huge!” Usopp shouted with a look of shock on his face.

“The entrance to the Grand Line…” Nami spoke, her hand keeping the hood of her raincoat from falling down.

“So that’s the Red Line, huh?” I looked up at Luffy who was keeping one of his hands on the straw hat I learned was one of his most precious treasures.

“I-I-I can’t see the top because of the clouds!” Usopp screamed from right next to me.

I watched as the waves crashed against the wall of mountain and the currents swirl in a whirlpool-like manner. A sudden tremor hit our boat and I had almost fallen had it not been for Zoro catching me with his hand around my waist.

I looked up at him with a smile in thanks but the moment didn’t last long because almost immediately, our ship had started gaining speed and Luffy started giving orders.

“Hold the rudder good!”

“We’re on it!”

“N-Nami! Where’s the entrance?! We’re going to crash into the rocks if we keep going this way!” Luffy called down to Nami who stayed silent as she stared at the mountain.

“Nami! What do we do?” Usopp screamed as he and Sanji took hold of the rudder again.

Zoro’s grip on my waist tightened which I hadn’t noticed was still around me from all the commotion.

“Keep going straight ahead!” Nami shouted with a smile on her face.

“A-Are you serious?!” I heard Usopp shout from inside.

“Just do it!” Nami called back as Luffy stretched down and landed next to her with one hand still on his straw hat.

“Nami! Is that the canal entrance?” Luffy asked, looking at Nami who was looking straight ahead.

“Most likely!” Nami said with a look of determination which made Luffy grin.

“This can’t be for real!” Zoro said as he looked towards the mountain through a pair of binoculars I hadn’t seen him take out, “the damn ocean really is flowing up the mountain!”

“We gotta make our way through those gates just right!” I heard Nami say but I wasn’t paying attention anymore. I was mesmerized by the sight of the currents flowing up the mountain. I stayed frozen in place as we neared the gates and the ship started turning sideways.

“W-We’re getting off course! More to the right! Right! Right!” I heard Luffy scream to Sanji and Usopp.

“The right? Go starboard!” I listened as Usopp and Sanji struggled inside with the rudder and the boat started rocking violently. We all gripped the railing and I felt Zoro’s arm snake around my waist and hold me tightly once again.

“C-Come on now!” I could hear Usopp struggling inside with the rudder. I flinched as a loud crack sounded and I turned my head to look inside. I watched with wide eyes as Sanji and Usopp crashed into one of the tables with half of the rudder in their hands.

Luffy, Nami, Zoro and I could only stare in terror at what just happened. The only way of steering the ship was gone and we had no choice but to rely on the currents to guide us through the gates.

“GOMU GOMU NO BALLOON!” Luffy handed his straw hat to Zoro as he jumped and stretched into a balloon to keep the ship from crashing onto the first gate.

The ship’s railing hit Luffy in the stomach and straightened along to the current. I ran to the side of the ship and stretched out my hand for Luffy to grab as he was starting to get left behind.

“Luffy! Grab on!” Zoro screamed for me to get Luffy’s attention with his hand held out next to me. Luffy glanced at us and stretched both his arms and grabbed our hands. Unfortunately, he had stretched too far and got his head stuck into the floor of the ship.

I rushed to help Luffy get unstuck and I could hear Sanji and Usopp cheering inside the meeting room.

“We made it!” I grinned as I listened to their cheers while trying to pull Luffy’s head out by pulling on his shoulders. Unfortunately, due to his rubber body, he only stretched and didn’t budge.

“Now it’s just a straight shot to the summit!” I heard Nami shout and I looked up toward the front of the ship. We were sailing quickly up the mountain in a straight line.

“Hey! I wanna see! I wanna see!” I turned my head back to Luffy who was trying to pull his head from under the floorboards. I got up and crouched in front of him, pushing on his shoulders. After one strong push, he got out.

“I’m unstuck!” He cheered with a wide grin. He gave me a quick tight hug then ran quickly up the stairs to where Nami was standing. I laughed and followed after Luffy who stopped next to Zoro at the bow.

“A-Awesome!” Luffy stared wide eyed at the sight before us.

I walked to the other side of Zoro and grinned widely as I felt the adrenaline coursing through my body. The smell of adventure was in the air and it had been so long since I was excited for anything.

I felt a familiar arm wrap around my waist and I looked up at Zoro. He smiled down at me and winked which sparked a blush from me. I grinned back in an attempt to hide my blush but from the smirk on his face, I knew he saw me blush. I pouted and turned my head forward again, trying to keep myself from smiling at how his arm tightened more around me.

“We’re in the clouds!” Luffy yelled as our surroundings started to get foggy. I looked to the side and saw Luffy had climbed onto his favorite spot on Merry’s head. I was tempted to pull him down so he wouldn’t go flying off but I got a feeling he wouldn’t budge no matter what I did. 

I leaned forward and watched the currents continue to flow quickly to the top. I assumed the current would have slowed by now since we were sailing against gravity. 

“Awesome! We’re above the clouds now!” Luffy cheered.

“Look! The summit! It’s the summit!” Nami exclaimed in excitement. 

We reached the top where a series of waves were crashing against each other and creating a fountain of sorts. My eyes widened as sparkles of water turned into ice and shattered to pieces.

Our ship flew as the waves pushed us out of the canal we had gone in from and we soared through the air above the canal leading down into the Grand Line.

“Yahoo!” Luffy cheered.

The ship lost it’s momentum and started to fall. I had already kept a firm grip on the railing so I wasn’t suspended in the air like the others. I laughed silently as Zoro bounced next to me.

A silence fell on us as the entrance to Grand Line neared. I smiled as I thought of everything that happened these past few days. A week ago, I wouldn’t have thought that I would be a pirate and travelling to the Grand Line with five new friends. Now, I had the opportunity to chase an old dream I had.

‘To bring people together through music,’ I smiled as I remembered my mother’s words.

“I see it! This is the greatest sea in the world! The Grand Line!” Luffy cheered, “The One Piece is up ahead somewhere!”

“GO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story a little over a year ago and decided I might as well post it somewhere so I can find it again if my laptop ever dies on me. Sorry for any grammatical and spelling errors I may have missed.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize the character or song, it doesn't belong to me.


	5. Unexpected Friend

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chapter 5 - Unexpected Friend

Mai POV

We sped past along the canal, passing through a cloud of fog that was in our path. I gripped on tight to the railing of Going Merry and ignored how my hair was flying wildly around me.

“Whoa! This is great!” I heard Sanji yell from where he was standing on the ropes of the mast. I couldn’t turn my head to look at the others but I could hear Usopp and Nami shouting in excitement.

“Huh?” I glanced out of the corner my eye to see Zoro looking around. At that moment, I heard a loud bellowing sound and from Zoro’s expression, it was like he had heard it too.

“Did you just hear something?” Zoro asked.

“Huh? What’d you say?” Nami shouted above the noise with her head turned to Zoro. Obviously, the wind was too strong for the others to hear what we had heard.

“Don’t you hear a strange sound?” Zoro repeated which Nami shrugged away.

“Isn’t it the wind? There must be lots of unusual landforms!” Nami replied, turning to face front again.

The loud bellowing sound repeated itself and I squinted my eyes as a large round-like silhouette appeared through the fog.

“Nami-san! I see a mountain up ahead!” Sanji screamed.

“A mountain? That can’t be!” Nami shouted back and looked up at Sanji.

“But it’s really there!” Sanji pointed to where I had been originally looking and it only confirmed what I saw.

“Who cares?! GO!” Luffy screamed, once again ignoring all the potential dangers up ahead.

“After passing the Twin Capes up ahead, there should be nothing but ocean!” Nami screamed as we neared the “mountain.”

“Hm?” Luffy leaned closer to get a better look on the silhouette. A moment later, we got out of the fog and were met with a large, black wall blocking the entrance to the Grand Line.

Everyone screamed and I sat down on the floor of the ship as I wrapped my legs on one of the pillars of the railing. I stared wide eyed at the fast-approaching wall-like obstacle and prepared myself for a crash.

I ignored everyone’s screaming behind me as I shook against the railing. I heard Nami scream that the wall was actually a whale but I didn’t care. Whale or mountain or whatever it was, it was still big enough to wreck our ship if we crashed into it.  
The whale screamed again, emitting the sound I had heard a few minutes ago, and I noticed the large scars on its forehead as we got closer to it. I flinched as I remembered my own scars but shook the thought out of my head to focus on the present danger.

The others continued to scream from behind me and debated what to do. I shakily stood up but kept a firm grip on the railing. A million thoughts raced in my mind at all the possible ways we could die. The worst case scenario would be for the whale to open his mouth and swallow us whole.

“Hey! We can get through on the left!” I heard Zoro scream so I glanced at the left and saw a small opening for us to pass through.

“Port! Hard to port!”

“But the rudder is broken!”

“Do something!” Zoro then ran towards Usopp and the others while Luffy, Nami and I stayed at the front.

“Oh yeah! I’ve got an idea!” Luffy screamed and ran inside as well, leaving both Nami and I confused.

“Luffy? Hey, what’re you doing?!” Nami called to him but Luffy didn’t answer.

We got closer and closer to the whale and the ship wasn’t turning. Nami and I shared a look of terror as we both thought the same thing.

“Is this it?” Nami voiced out and I felt my arms go numb against my sides as fear overwhelmed me.

Suddenly, one of our front cannons fired and hit the whale and immediately slowed us down. I fell on my ass and looked back at where Luffy had gone in with a look of shock. I stayed frozen on the floor with my legs numb from fear at how close we were to dying just now.

“CANNON?!” I heard everyone yell. 

The ship slowly closed in on the whale and Going Merry’s head hit it directly before breaking off and flying towards Nami who was lying flat on the ground.

“Ah… We’re screwed… This might be it…,” I watched as Nami stayed stationary with a look of pure terror in her eyes. 

Merry’s head landed behind Nami and I heard Luffy scream from inside the cannon room.

I shook violently in my spot and stiffly turned my head to look back at whale. It definitely knew we were here now. I gulped and braced myself for whatever may happen. But it only stayed quiet.

I continued to watch the whale as Zoro, Sanji and Usopp hurriedly paddled the ship away before the whale could do anything. I flinched when it bellowed once again. I covered my ears as the pressure of his sound waves hurt my eardrums. Despite the obvious danger, a lightbulb went off in my head as an idea clicked in.

The whale quickly stopped his scream as we sailed past one of his eyes. I turned my head when I heard Luffy walk back to the bow of the ship.

“You! What the hell did you do to my special seat?!” My eyes widened and I shakily stood up. I knew whatever Luffy wasn’t planning wasn’t going to do us any good but before I could stop him, he pulled his arm back and punched the whale in the eye.

I froze in my spot. The fear of death coming back to me. Tears flowed from my eyes as I stared at Luffy with a look of terror and disbelief. Our captain could have possibly just killed us and we hadn’t even gone more than 10 feet into the Grand Line!

Luffy’s arm snapped back and I dreaded the moment of silence that fell over us. I turned my head to the whale, anxiously waiting what he was going to do.

Suddenly, it’s eye looked down at our ship and we all jumped…. except for Luffy.

“HOW WAS THAT? BRING IT ON, YOU BASTARD!” He screamed at the whale and the tears continued to fall down my face as I stood frozen in place.

“SHUT UP ALREADY, YOU IDIOT!” Zoro and Usopp kicked Luffy as they kicked him in anger.

We all fell quiet and I could feel myself breaking down. I couldn’t do anything. My powers won’t help us. I was too weak to turn the rudder or help in paddling the boat. We were all going to die and I couldn’t do anything to prevent it.

The whale opened it’s mouth and let out a scream louder than before. The ship started moving sideways as the current started flowing into the whale’s mouth. I shakily put my hands over my eyes as my worst case scenario started to happen.

I looked to the side as Luffy started to fall. My instinct kicked in and I quickly grabbed his leg but my other hand narrowly missed the railing so we both fell out. Luckily, Luffy stretched one of his arms and grabbed onto the whale’s tooth. I clung onto Luffy for dear life as I watched our friends on the ship fall into the whale’s mouth.

Luffy quickly wrapped one of his arms around me as he hopped over the whale’s teeth and started climbing it’s head to the top using the scars. I let go of Luffy to climb on my own and listened to Luffy scream. We both held on tightly as the wind pressure around us slowly started to lessen.

The whale shut it’s mouth and everything became quiet. I froze in my place once again as I remembered my friend’s get eaten alive. I snapped out of my thoughts when Luffy continued to climb towards the whale’s back and I followed suit. I took deep breaths and watched as Luffy panted next to me. 

“What am I gonna do? They’ve all been eaten,” Luffy stared back at me with a horror-stricken face. It quickly warped into anger and I sat still as he started to punch the whale’s back.

“Hey you! Spit them out! Give everyone back to me! You!” I jumped as the whale started to descend into the ocean. Luffy quickly looked at me, panic in his eyes. Before I could react, he grabbed me and threw me hard towards the cliff. 

I landed hard and rolled around before coming to a stop and I felt several bruises forming on my body. I shook the pain away and quickly got up to rush to the edge of the cliff. I tried to get Luffy’s attention but he was too busy hitting the whale.

“You! You jerk! You’re diving into the water, aren’t you?! Stop it! Hey! I’m telling you to stop! Hey! Please wait! Give my friends back! Hey! I said stop it! We’re gonna go on adventures together! They’re precious to me! Give them back!” I watched as Luffy continued to scream and no matter how hard I tried to scream for him, no voice came out.

I turned my head and looked away from Luffy. I didn’t want to watch him drown or be swallowed up by the whale as well. I fell back onto the ground and curled up into a ball as tears flowed out my eyes.

Straw Hat Crew POV

“What do you think?”

“What do I think?”

“How should I think?”

“H-H-H-H-How?”

“I was sure that we were swallowed by the whale,”

Nami, Sanji, Usopp and Zoro stood on the bow of the ship looking at a small island that had a house, tree, chair and even a clothesline. 

“Is this a dream?”

“Yeah, it’s probably a dream.”

“Then, what’re the island and house doing there?”

“They must be illusions.”

The water started to rise as a Great King Squid appeared and stared down at them but the Straw Hat crew continued to stay calm. 

“Then this is….,”

“A GREAT KING SQUID!” Nami and Usopp jumped away in fear with tears in their eyes while Zoro and Sanji got ready to attack the squid. 

Before they could jump to action, the doors to the house on the island swung open as three hooks flew out and speared through the squid’s head. The dead squid fell back and crashed into the sea.  
“Looks like there’s at least someone there,” Zoro said as he stared tensely at the doors.

“I hope it’s really a person,” Sanji added.

“I’ve had enough. I wanna go home,” Nami choked out and tried to hold back her tears.

“Luffy and Mai went somewhere too. What’s gonna happen to us?” Usopp cried from his place on the floor next to Nami.

“Come to think of it, where are they?!” Nami asked, turning her head to Usopp.

Luffy POV

“What the heck is this? Why is there a door and a passageway in a whale?” Luffy asked no one in particular as he stood in a metal walkway.

Straw Hat Crew POV

“S-S-Shall we fire the cannon at the island?!” Usopp stuttered out when they noticed a figure standing by the doorway where the hooks had flown out from.

“No, hold on a sec…,” Sanji started, “Someone’s coming out.”

The figure grabbed hold of the rope holding the spears on the squid and started pulling it in. The figure slowly stepped out to reveal an old man with flower petals surrounding the back of his head. 

“Ah? It’s a flower!” Sanji exclaimed.

“A flower?” Zoro questioned.

“Oh, nevermind. It’s a person,” Sanji took back and from what he had previously said, you couldn’t help but question Sanji’s eyesight.

“What is he?” Usopp muttered out.

“That old man killed a King Great Squid with a single hit...”

“Was he just fishing? Or did he do it to save us?”

They all watched as the old man dropped the rope to the floor and glanced at them. They waited with baited breathe as the old man walked away with one eye trained on them. He seemed to be glaring at them with an intensity in his eyes.

The old man sat down on his lawn chair and took out his newspaper as he relaxed and ignored everyone.

“SAY SOMETHING, YOU JERK!” Sanji screamed at the old man who turned his head up and looked back at Sanji.

“I-If you wanna fight, we’ll fight, you bastard! We’ve got cannons!” Usopp screamed from a distance and Nami looked back at him with a sweatdrop at his attempt at bravery.

The old man glared back at Usopp with strained eyes. Another silence fell over them and everyone simply glared at each other.

“You’d better not or someone will die,” the old man threatened as his eyes stayed unblinking.

“Oh? Just who’re you saying will die?” Sanji taunted back as Nami and Usopp braced each other behind him in fear.

“Me,” the old man said bluntly.

“YOU?!” Sanji screamed back.

“Why, you…,” Sanji uttered with a look of frustration.

“Well, calm down,” Zoro smirked as he put a hand on Sanji’s shoulder.

“He’s mocking us. That bastard,” Zoro pushed Sanji behind him to keep him from getting more irritated and took over.

“Hey, old man. Tell us where we are and who you are,” Zoro calmly demanded and another silence fell over them as the old man continued to glare at them.

“When asking someone a question, isn’t it proper to give your name first?” the old man replied.

“Hm? Yeah, good point. Sorry. My name is Roronoa-”

“My name is Crocus. I’m the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Capes. I’m 71 years old and a Gemini. My blood type is AB,” the old man ranted.

“Can I cut him?!” Zoro snapped with a tight grip on his swords.

“You’re asking where we are? How dare you run your mouth when you barged into my private resort? Does it look like we’re in a rat’s belly?” Crocus spoke.

“S-So we were eaten by a whale after all…,” Usopp stuttered, “but is this really a whale’s stomach?”

“Wait a sec! What’s gonna happen to us?! I don’t wanna be digested!” Nami freaked out which made the old man glare at them once again.

“WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT?!” They all screamed.

“Haven’t you guys heard of the “repeating gag”?

“THAT WAS A GAG?!”

“The exit is over there,” Crocus said calmly, turning his head and pointing to a large double door on the edge of the sky.

“WE CAN GET OUT?!”

“Hold on a sec! Why’s there an exit in a whale’s belly?! Why’s the door in the sky?” Nami pointed out as she and Usopp leaned against the side railing.

“Wait, look at it carefully,” Usopp craned his head towards the “sky” and narrowed his eyes, “this sky… those seagulls… They’re all painted! It’s all a painting inside of the whale’s stomach!”

“Huh?!”

“Call it a doctor’s playful mind,” Crocus bluntly included.

“You bastard! What the hell are you doing here?!” Usopp screamed at him.

“That’s enough. Leave him alone,” Zoro stepped in, eager to leave instead of argue.

“Agreed,” Sanji agreed.

“Nami! There’s an exit, so let’s get out of here already,” Zoro pointed out.

“Yeah,” Nami answered but then, a large tremor caused the ship rock back and forth along to the “sea” as it rose up and down.

“What’s going on?!” Sanji screamed.

“Look! That’s not an island! It’s a ship. On top of that, it’s made of iron!” Nami pointed towards Crocus’ island.

“Of course! It’s because this sea is gastric acid!” Usopp shouted.

“I guess that means that wooden ships would melt if they stayed here long,” Sanji said.

“Hey! What’s started?! Tell us!” Usopp called to Crocus.

Crocus turned back to the crew and looked up at the sky, “This whale has… Laboon has started hitting his head against the Red Line.”

Mai POV

A tremor snapped me out of my shock and I sat up to look around. I noticed a lighthouse a short distance away with a small house attached next to it. A familiar bellowing sound made me snap my head toward the sea. I stood up and walked closer to the edge of the cliff and looked down, noticing the silhouette of the whale from earlier today. I watched as it swam back a few feet then quickly swam forward to slam it’s head on the side of the mountain.

I stood my ground and continued to watch the whale as it slammed it’s head against the rock face again. What caused the whale to start hurting itself? I didn’t know. But I understood why it would hurt itself. I understood that feeling of suffering.

A few tears fell from my eyes but I quickly wiped them away. If this whale was hurting, I would do everything to try and stop it. And in doing so, I may still have time to save my friends from being digested. I didn’t know how but I couldn’t give up on them just yet.

I looked around the sea to find any trace of Luffy’s body but I couldn’t find any. Not even his straw hat which would have floated to the top by now. I nodded and thought positively. Luffy wouldn’t die so easily and neither would the others. But the whale’s self-harm isn’t helping both itself and my friends so I had to find a way to stop it. 

I took a deep breathe and listened to the music fill the air as the words flowed.

“I've been stranded on a lonely street  
Got lost in the shadows  
Fell hard in the battle  
Heard cries and the suffering  
Walked through the darkness  
Left broken and heartless

I'm calling out, can you hear my voice?  
I'm gonna find you through all the noise  
You know there's nothing that I wouldn't do  
Shine your light as I reach for you

My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
It's the sound that I hear  
Tells me not to give up  
It breathes in my chest  
And it runs through my blood  
My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
Whoa, oh oh oh yeah

I've been told at least a thousand times  
It's not worth struggle  
The hurt or the trouble  
I keep running up to these front lines  
No, I won't surrender  
I'll wait here forever

Standing here with my flag held high  
Can't you see that it's worth the fight?

My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
It's the sound that I hear  
Tells me not to give up  
It breathes in my chest  
And it runs through my blood  
My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
Oh, whoa oh oh oh yeah

I march across this battlefield  
I'm screaming out, can you hear me now?  
I'm holding on, I stand my ground  
I'm screaming out, can you hear me now?

My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
It's the sound that I hear  
Tells me not to give up  
It breathes in my chest  
And it runs through my blood  
My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love

My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
It's the sound that I hear  
Tells me not to give up  
It breathes in my chest  
And it runs through my blood  
My heart beats for love  
My heart beats for love  
Whoa, oh oh oh yeah, love”

I opened my eyes and smiled as I saw the whale had come out of the water and was watching me. I looked at it’s scars and beckoned him to come closer. It seemed to hesitate but it slowly approached me with it’s head held high so I could reach it. I walked over to the edge of the cliff and put a hand on it’s forehead. I gently rubbed my hand against one of the scars with a sad smile.

Straw Hat Crew POV

“What is that? Can anyone else hear that?” Nami asked as music filled the air and a voice could be heard singing.

“It sounds like Mai-chan!” Sanji shouted, looking around for any sign of the mute girl.

“I saw her fly out with Luffy. The waves have calmed so she’s probably singing to the whale from outside,” Zoro smiled as he listened to the words Mai was singing.

Their heads turned to where Crocus was as they heard people crash through a set of doors and flew through the air while screaming.

“Luffy?” Zoro questioned as he recognized their captain as one of the people screaming.

“Hey! So everyone’s okay?” Luffy said as he caught sight of his crew, “in any case, help me!” Luffy fell into the sea of gastric acid along with the other two strangers.

“Aside from Luffy, there’re two weirdoes,” Usopp said, looking over the railing to where his captain fallen in.

“Hey! That old man disappeared!” Nami shouted.

“Don’t bother! For now, let’s save Luffy!” Zoro ordered.

Mai POV

I stepped back as the whale’s eyes suddenly blinked like it had realized something. It’s eye turned angry and a moment later, it had descended back into the ocean and screamed once again. Not long after, he started banging his head against the wall again.

I bit my lip. Singing had calmed him down but it didn’t look like it was going to work a second time. I watched in pain as it continued to bang it’s head against the wall. Whatever it was that was hurting him won’t be so easy to let go.

I raised an eyebrow as it suddenly stopped and floated there like it had fallen asleep. I squinted to try and see if it was okay but I couldn’t. I breathed a sigh of relief for whatever had caused it to stop. As long as it wasn’t hurting itself, I was happy.

I looked out to the ocean. The Grand Line. In the 10 years that had passed, I wouldn’t have assumed that I’d ever get to see this place. I sat down on the ground and breathed. I had nothing to do but wait now that the whale had calmed down. My friends were still alive. I know it. I couldn’t give up on them just yet.


	6. Mending A Broken Heart

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chapter 6 - Mending A Broken Heart

Mai POV

The whale had come out from the water once again and started to scream at the mountain. I could do nothing but watch as it continued to bellow. As much as I wanted to sing for it again to try and calm it down, I couldn’t. The whale wasn’t paying attention to me anymore and no matter how hard I tried to catch it’s attention, it would only ignore me and scream.

I sighed and turned around to face the lighthouse. Maybe I’d be able to find a way to rescue my friends somewhere inside. I made my way over to it and looked around. There wasn’t much else on the the cliff apart from the two buildings. I turned my head back to look at the other cliff and saw that it had the exact same lighthouse as the one on my side.

I stopped by the door of the small house and knocked, hoping to find someone who could help me. I waited a few moments for an answer but when I didn’t hear anything, I turned to doorknob to see it wasn’t locked. I slowly opened the door and looked around the small room. There wasn’t much. Just the necessities needed for one person and a few knick-knacks here and there. 

I walked inside when it was clear that no one was around and closed the door behind me. If whoever lives here were to suddenly come back, I wouldn’t want them to attack me by surprise. If they were still alive, that is. I moved over to the desk and leaned down to read through a bunch of papers that looked like logs, blueprints, and doctor’s notes.

I frowned as I continued to look through the room but being careful not to overstep my boundaries. After a few minutes of not finding anything that caught my eye, I gave up and sat on the single bed located near the wall. Whoever lived here seemed like they hadn’t been here in a while.

A loud metal creaking sound suddenly rang through the air and I jumped up. I ran outside the house and over to the edge of the cliff where I saw a gate opening on the side of the whale. My eyes widened as I recognized the ship that came out and the voice screaming.

“There it is! The real sky!!” I saw Luffy cheer from his place where Merry’s head had broken off earlier.

I grinned as I saw all my friends alive and I raised my arms to wave at them. Sanji caught sight of me and I saw him waving back.

“MAI-CHAAAAN!” He screamed loudly and I laughed silently as they all turned their heads and waved back at me with large smiles on their faces. 

A small island floating behind them caught my eye and I brought my arms down. There was an old man with what looked to be flower petals on his head sitting on a lawn chair just trailing along behind the ship. There were also two other people on the boat. A girl with long blue hair and a man with orange hair and a crown on his head.

I sat down and waited for them to come closer. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves for the time being and Usopp made a fuss that brought the old man on the island into their conversation. Whatever it was concerned the whale seeing as Usopp and the others had turned to face the large creature.

I looked in concern at the scarred whale that had gone quiet. It was simply staring into thin air now with it’s mouth closed and not a single sound coming from it. The old man seemed to know plenty about the whale and I could only ponder what could be so heartbreaking that it’s made this lovely animal want to continue hurting itself.

I turned my head back to my friends. Everyone was watching the old man talk about the whale it seemed but Luffy was still staring at the whale. He had been quiet the whole time they were talking and I knew by now that when Luffy was quiet, he usually had an idea in his head.

My eyes widened as I watched awestruck at how Luffy had ripped the mast off the ship. I jumped up and waved my arms frantically to capture the attention of my friends who had somehow not noticed what Luffy was doing.

Luffy started to scream as he raced up the whale’s side which thankfully caught their attention but I facepalmed when no one made a move to stop him from whatever he was planning.

“GOMU GOMU NO FLOWER ARRANGEMENT!” I nearly fainted when Luffy jumped up and pinned the mast into a bleeding wound on the whale’s forehead.

I frantically turned my head side to side from Luffy to my friends to Luffy and back to my friends. They were looking up calmly with no reaction whatsoever as they continued to converse amongst themselves.

I ran to the side of the cliff and tried to grab the whale’s attention to calm it down as tears started to form in it’s eyes. It started to thrash around in the water and create big waves as it tried to throw Luffy off.

Luffy held on tight to the mast as the whale jumped out of the water and hurled itself towards the cliff I was on. Thankfully, the whale aimed to the side of the lighthouse, far away from where I was standing.

I rushed to where Luffy had fallen and sighed in relief when I saw he was fine. I turned back to the whale who was now screaming in pain from all the blood pouring out of it’s wound.

“Ha! Dummy!” I heard Luffy mutter.

The whale rushed at Luffy again and I jumped away to keep from being brought into their fight. I clenched my fist in anger as I watched their fight. I wanted nothing more than to scream for them to stop but I knew that even if I could talk, they wouldn’t stop.

Luffy crashed against the side of the lighthouse and fell silent. A scowl formed on my face as I waited for him to attack again. I couldn’t hold him back from fighting. If anything, I’d just be caught in the crossfire.

Luffy stayed still even as the whale rushed at him again. I unclenched my fists and made a motion to grab him and pull him out of the way but before I could, he spoke up.

“It’s a draw!” I blinked and tilted my head to the side. The whale had stopped in it’s tracks as well like it had understood what Luffy had said.

Luffy stood up and put his straw hat back on with a grin, “I’m strong, aren’t I? You wanna defeat me, don’t you? Our fight isn’t over yet! So we have to fight again. Your buddies are dead but I’m your rival forever. We definitely have to fight again in order to decide who’s stronger.”

I raised my brow in confusion at what Luffy was talking about. Clearly, I had missed a lot of things. But whatever it was Luffy was saying had captured the whale’s attention and made him stop attacking. 

“After going around the Grand Line, we’ll come back to see you again,” I smiled when I noticed the whale had started to cry at Luffy’s words. Luffy put an arm around my shoulders and grinned at the whale, “When I come back, let’s fight again! And Mai-chan will sing for you again!”

I grinned when the whale howled happily and Luffy laughed then proceeded to hug me tightly. I hugged him back, thankful to have my friends back and alive.

Luffy quickly let go of me and rushed to edge of the cliff to call the rest of our friends over. When they had quickly docked at the side of the cliff, Luffy jumped back onto the ship and ran into the storage rooms. I shook my head and walked over to where everyone was getting off.

“Mai-chaaan! You’re alive! I missed you so much, my dear!” Sanji shouted as he floated around me with his signature lovestruck expression. I giggled and hugged him which made him happy.

“Mai-chan! What happened? Are you okay? The last I saw you, you were right behind me on the ship and the next, you were gone!” Nami ranted as she hugged me tightly too.

Before I could greet Usopp and Zoro, Luffy came running out with buckets of paint on his arms and a large paintbrush under his arm. We watched as he ran over to the whale and climbed back onto his forehead where he proceeded to paint a very familiar symbol.

I looked over to Usopp who was busy reattaching the mast onto the ship and jumped over to him. I patted him on the back and grinned at him as if to say, “I’m glad you weren’t eaten.” He grinned back at me before turning back to his work. 

Before I could turn around, an arm hooked around my waist and the next thing I know, I was off the ground and on someone’s shoulder. I tried to struggle free but the grip on me was tight as the person I already knew was carrying me jumped off the boat and walked back over to where Nami and Sanji were standing by the lighthouse.

“Hey! Zoro! Put Mai-chan down! She’s isn’t one of your dumbbells!” I heard Sanji scream which was ignored by said swordsman.

Instead of putting me down, Zoro sat down against the wall of the lighthouse and sat me down on his lap. His arm stayed around my waist in a protective manner and I had no choice but to stay with him. Nami laughed at my expense while Sanji fumed but didn’t fight to free me when I flashed him a reassuring smile. 

I turned my head to look at the green-haired man who leaned his head back against the wall and had fallen asleep. I giggled and leaned back against him so I could bring his head down and rest it against my shoulder. He kept his eyes closed but brought his head closer to me anyways, covering his face with my hair.

Nami flashed me a knowing smile but I rolled my eyes at her. Zoro was just being protective and from what had just happened, he probably thought at least one of us was dead. It wasn’t a surprise that he was tired either. This was our first break since we entered the entrance to the Grand Line and even I was starting to get sleepy since I hadn’t slept since we left my hometown.

I thought it best to wait until we set sail to sleep though. Who knew what could happen now that we were in the Grand Line? I blinked away the sleep and watched Nami and Sanji make their way back to the ship where Usopp continued to work. I looked at the whale where Luffy was still painting. The symbol of our flag was becoming more obvious now but it definitely was painted well.

“The old man told us the story of that whale,” I jumped when Zoro suddenly spoke behind me with his head still in my hair. He chuckled when I elbowed him for scaring me and I shuddered as he vibrated against me.

I listened as Zoro told me the story of the whale whose name I now knew is Laboon. I couldn’t help but cry at how those pirates could just betray such an innocent creature so easily. The poor whale must have felt so betrayed when the old man, Crocus, told him what they had done. He’d been denying everything for 50 years and staying hopeful that his friends would come home.

I hadn’t noticed Zoro had been hugging me tightly and rubbing his hand up and down my arm in a comforting way. Due to my tear-filled eyes and Zoro still had his head on my shoulder, we didn’t notice two people watching us from around the corner of the lighthouse.

I wiped the tears away and breathed deeply. I looked back at Laboon and found Luffy was almost done with his painting. I put my hand on top of Zoro’s and stroked his hand with my thumb as if to say, “Thank you. I’m okay.” I made a motion to get up and he loosened his hold on my waist. I stood up and turned to him with a smile. I held out my hand for him to grab and he smirked back at me, taking my hand and standing up as well. We walked back to the ship and Zoro grabbed me by the waist as he jumped over. He let me go and smirked as I pouted at him.

“Hmm. This is good,” I turned my head over to Luffy and laughed. He was absolutely covered in paint from head to toe but it looked like he was finally done with his masterpiece.

“This is the symbol of our promise to fight again. Until we come back, don’t remove that mark by hitting your head. Got that?!” Luffy ordered with a large grin on his face. I smiled as the whale opened his mouth and let out a small noise as if to agree with Luffy. 

“All right!” Luffy cheered and I shook my head at our captain’s unconventional way of keeping Laboon safe.

“Hm? Where’re those guys?” Usopp asked as he carried wooden planks in his arms.

“Those guys? Oh, those two weird people? Maybe they ran away? I wonder who they were after all,” Nami answered as she looked around the ship.

I looked back over to the cliff but saw none of the two people. I shrugged it off and pushed the thought of the two in the back of my mind. No one else seemed to be worrying about them so it was probably fine. They spent more tie with these people than I did after all.

“Huh? What the heck is this?” I heard Luffy mutter from the front of the ship while holding a weird looking watch with a compass needle inside.

Before I could approach Luffy and ask him what it was, Zoro had grabbed me again and pulled me over to the side of the ship and we adopted our pose from back on the cliffside. He dug his face into my hair and not long after, I heard him start to snore. I giggled and relaxed against him as I watched Usopp angrily fix the mast in front of me.

“Damn! How dare Luffy break the ship?! Geez…,” Usopp’s head snapped to me but his eyes were fixed on the mop of green hair resting on my shoulder.

“Hey, Zoro! Help me out here! I’m not a shipwright!” He screamed and I turned my head slightly to the side to see if Zoro would wake but the sounds of his snores were proof that he wasn’t. I turned back to Usopp with a sheepish smile and moved to get up and help him instead but Zoro’s arm around my waist pulled me back down to his lap.

A scream filled the air and I jumped as I recognized it was Nami’s voice. I blinked and tried to get up again but Zoro’s firm grip on my waist wouldn’t move and I looked to Usopp for help. He looked at me with a blank expression as his eyes fixated on Zoro’s arm. His mouth formed into an all-knowing smile and I facepalmed when he grinned at me and went back to work.

“What’s going on? Quiet down,” Luffy complained.

Sanji ran past me with plates covered in large fish parts and out to where Nami was. I breathed a sigh of relief that at least someone was going to check up on Nami.

“What’s the matter, Nami-san?! If it’s food you’re worried about, it’s ready!” I head Sanji shout from a distance.

Usopp had obviously seen the plates of food Sanji was carrying and dropped everything to run after him, sending me a quick evil grin before running off. 

Luffy quickly sped off soon after, leaving me with the sleeping swordsman on my back.

I let out a huff at the obvious fun I was missing and turned my head to look at the green-hair wonder. He looked so peaceful and adorable against my shoulder with his face snuggled up against my hair. I blinked at my thoughts and quickly shook the thought away, a blush creeping up my face.

Thankfully, being mute means having your other senses heightened so when the others started talking about something important, I listened intently and distracted myself from thinking more about the swordsman.

“I thought I told you that common sense is useless in this sea. It’s not that that compass is broken.” Crocus spoke.

“Hm? Then could it be that the magnetic fields are…,” Nami trailed off.

“That’s right. The islands in the Grand Line contain lots of magnetic minerals. Because of that, they are causing abnormality throughout the Grand Line. Furthermore, the current and winds don’t have constancy. If you’re a navigator, you should know how scary that is,” Crocus explained, confirming Nami’s fears.

“It’s true that if we don’t have a way of knowing our direction, it’s hopeless,” Nami said.

“Yummy!” Luffy mumbled. I giggled as it sounded like he was too busy eating to focus on what they were talking about.

“I-I didn’t know! Oh well…,” Nami admitted.

“Hey! That’s bad! Are we gonna be okay?!” Usopp butted in.

“This isn’t bad! It’s yummy!” I facepalmed as our fearless captain continued to ignore the obvious problem. If we had no way of knowing where to go, we couldn’t leave the cape. We’re stuck here until we find a way to another island.

“Hey, you guys! Please just be quiet!” Nami snapped.

“The nose of the Elephant Bluefin Tuna tastes good!” Luffy answered back.

Everyone ignored him as Crocus continued his explanation, “You need a log pose to travel around the Grand Line.”

“Log pose? I’ve never heard of it,” Nami spoke.

“It’s a special compass that can record magnetism,” I blinked as I remembered what Luffy had picked up earlier. I smiled at our Luffy’s dumb luck. If it truly was what Crocus was talking about, then we had the answer to Nami’s problem.

“Is it a strange looking compass?” Luffy mumbled out.

“Yeah, it’s shape is unusual,” Crocus answered.

“Does it look like this?” I imagined Luffy was holding up what he had found earlier today up to them.

“Yeah, that’s it. Without the log pose, it’s impossible to travel in the Grand Line,” Crocus bluntly said. I smiled, waiting for the coming impact I knew was going to happen.

“I see… but hold on a sec,” Nami started, “Luffy?”

“Hm?”

“HOW COME YOU HAVE ONE?!” I laughed silently when I heard Nami punch Luffy, careful not to shake too much as to not wake Zoro.

“This is something that those two weirdoes dropped on the ship,” Luffy whined.

“They did?”

“Why did you hit me?” I giggled as I imagined a chibi Luffy pouting with fish sticking out of his mouth.

“Just going with the flow,” I bit my lip and tried to keep myself from shaking in laughter any more at how blunt my friends were with each other.

“Oh, the flow, huh?”

I tuned them out and relaxed myself. Crocus continued to explain but I knew the basic gist by now. Without a log pose, it was impossible to get to another island and you were basically stuck where you were. I turned my head to glance at Zoro and he was still asleep. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I guess we had something in common. We were both heavy sleepers.

I turned back to face the ocean. In the 10 years my father had stayed in our village, I learned how to survive on a few hours of sleep per week and go without food for days before fainting. I adapted to how he treated me which made me stronger and I was thankful for it. I hate him for putting me through all that torture for so long but I guess I kept hope in my heart that someday, it would get better. 

Mother always told me that everything ends. That wasn’t always a good thing but that didn’t mean it was always a bad thing either. And she was right. My time with her had ended so abruptly, it took me a full year to finally start getting back up on my feet again. 10 years later, my time with my father ended and I was stronger than I could have ever dreamed back when my mother was alive.

I thought of my new friends and smiled. My time with them would end someday too. But when that would be, I didn’t know nor did I want to know. I would cherish this time we had together. And I’d fight to make it as long as possible.

My mother’s words rang in my head. Words she told me had come from a doctor that was very special to her when she was younger, “The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things but vice verse, the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”

I breathed deeply and repeated the mantra over and over in my head. My mother told me many things of her time before she had me. It made me happy that she had lived a wonderful life with plenty of good people. The way she died didn’t matter to me anymore. What mattered was how she had lived her life. Happy and with good company.

I yawned and leaned my head back against Zoro’s to have a short nap. It didn’t seem like we were in a hurry to leave anyways. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, feeling safe in Zoro’s tight embrace.

I jerked awake when the ship started to move and I could hear Luffy screaming. I blinked my eyes open and yawned. From the position of the sun, it looked like it was finally sunset and with everyone back on the ship, I guess we were finally heading out.

“See ya, whale! I’m leaving now!” I turned my head over to Luffy where he was saying goodbye to Laboon. I smiled at the sight of Luffy’s painting and moved to get up. Unfortunately, Zoro still hadn’t loosened his grip.

I turned my head to him and saw that he was finally awake. He flashed me a smirk and I pouted. His eyes trailed down to my lips and I blushed. I snapped my back to where Luffy was, ignoring the chuckles of the green-haired man.

“To Whiskey Peak, full speed ahead!” Luffy cheered and we set sail. I jumped up when I felt Zoro’s arm loosen for a split second and ran away quickly before he could grab hold of me again.

I ran to the side of the ship and waved goodbye to Crocus and Laboon. The whale bellowed happily and I grinned. This day had been an emotional rollercoaster since we had entered the Grand Line and of all the people, who knew that our first friend would be a whale.

I walked back over to where everyone was and leaned against the railing next to Zoro. He opened one of his eyes and looked at me then stood up with a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him to watch Luffy and Usopp jump and cheer. I watched my everyone with a smile on my face. I may have been in this crew for only a few days now but they weren’t just friends anymore. They were family.


	7. Chapter 7 - A New Development

Mai POV

I grumbled and panted heavily next to Zoro’s sleeping form. We had all just finished braving through the fiercely unpredictable weather and the damn swordsman had slept through it all. I glared at him through heavy eyes and frowned. He had gone back to sleep as soon as possible and was about to drag me down with him but I refused to be stuck doing nothing again. Since then, no one had been able to wake him. I knew how hard it was to wake a heavy sleeper but you’d think he was in a coma with how he slept through the heavy rain, freezing snow, and hitting an iceberg.

Finally after what seemed like forever, the sky cleared and the seas calmed. Just as I was about to close my eyes and drift off to sleep, I heard Zoro stretch his arms and sit up.

“Ahh, that felt good,” My eye twitched when he got up and walked away with his eyes closed.

“Hey, no matter how nice the weather is, you guys shouldn’t be so lazy. We’d better be on the right track,” If I wasn’t so tired and my arms weren’t sore from pulling the sails this whole time, I would have thrown my shoe at him.

“You…,” I heard Nami, Sanji and Usopp groan out.

“Hm? Why’re you guys on this ship?”

“You’re slow!” The man with a crown shouted.

“We’re heading to their town right now. It’s called Whiskey Peak,” Luffy explained and being the energy ball that he is, he wasn’t tired at all.

“You mean we’re taking them back? We don’t owe them anything,” Zoro countered.

“Right, we don’t,” I couldn’t help but smile at Luffy’s kind-heartedness. He really didn’t care as long as none of his friends got hurt or got in the way of his adventure.

“Well, not like it matters to me,” I turned my head slightly to watch Zoro talk to our temporary companions, “Yeah, your faces say that you’re thinking bad thoughts. What were your names again?”

“I-I’m Mr. 9,” the man with orange hair stuttered. I smirked and rolled my eyes when I noticed that Zoro was being intimidating on purpose.

“I’m Miss Wednesday,” the girl with blue hair answered. I couldn’t help but frown. She was very pretty and didn’t look like any other average girl…. like me.

“RIght… Something has been bothering me ever since I first heard your names. I feel like I’ve heard them before or maybe not. Well, either way…,” I grinned when Nami had walked over to them and punched Zoro on the head with an aura of anger radiating off of her.

“How dare you sleep comfortable all this time? You kept sleeping no matter how many times we tried to wake you up,” Nami ranted and I nodded my head from my place on the ground. It was starting to feel really soft now that I was about to pass out.

“What?” Zoro grunted in anger which obviously made Nami angrier. I closed my eyes and smiled as I listened to Nami beat Zoro over the head.

“Don’t let your guard down, everyone! We don’t know what else might happen,” I opened my eyes and breathed deeply as I sat up. I watched Zoro groan in pain over the many bruises on his head and grinned. I quickly sat up and listened to Nami talk, “I was finally able to realize the danger of this sea just now. I was able to understand the reason why it’s called the Grand Line.”

“There’s no doubt about it since my navigational skills don’t work at all,” I sweatdropped at her confidence over nothing.

“How blunt… are we gonna be okay?” Usopp asked and I got up to walk over to them. Everyone was gathering by the front of the ship now since it seemed like we had reached our destination.

“We’ll be fine! Things will still work out for sure. In fact, look! Our first journey is over,” Nami pointed to an island of mountains that looked to have hills on top of hills on top of it. As we sailed closer, I was amazed to find that what I thought were mountains looked like giant cacti instead.

“So this is Whiskey Peak… but it’s really a funny looking island,”

“Those cacti are huge!”

We admired the view for a moment but then our attention turned to the two weirdoes who jumped onto the ship’s railing with a bow.

“Well then, we’ll be taking our leave now,”

“Thanks for taking us home, honeys,”

“If we’re linked by fate, we’ll meet again!”

“Bye bye, baby!” Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday then jumped off and into the water then quickly swam away.

“They’re gone…,”

“Who on earth were they?”

“Who cares? We’re landing!”

“There’s a river at the front. Looks like we can go inland by ship,”

Usopp started to shake in front of me and stuttered, “I-Isn’t it possible that there’re monsters or things like that?”

“It’s definitely possible. This is the Grand Line,” Sanji answered and I agreed. So far, our experience in these dreaded seas haven’t been what I was hoping for.

“If we come across monsters, we can just leave the island,” Luffy reassured.

“Hold on a sec. Don’t forget, we have to stay on this island for a certain period of time,” Nami butted in.

“Why?”

“Unless we store the magnetism of this island in the log pose, we can’t go to the next island. Since each island requires a different amount of tie to store the log, some islands require only several hours while others require days,” Nami explained.

“Th-Then even if this is a monster island that we want to escape from right away, it’s possible that we have to stay here for days until the log is stored?” Usopp flustered.

“That’s right,”

“Well, we can think about that when it happens. Let’s go already!” Luffy grinned.

“Luffy’s right. Let’s go. It’s not worth thinking about it,” Zoro agreed.

“No matter what happens, I’ll protect Nami-san,” Sanji added.

“H-Hey, wait. Listen, everyone. My chronic illness is suddenly… My “do not go to the island” disease is...,” I giggled at Usopp’s lame attempt at trying to back out of going.

“Then we’re going in. Listen. Make sure you’re prepared to run as well as fight,” Nami interrupted.

“No… Ah, well… like I said, my chronic illness is… Well, I guess you’re not listening…,” I smiled and put a comforting hand on Usopp shoulder. Seeing me made him calm down a bit when he remembered he wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a fighting maniac on this crew although he still continued to shake.

A fog had started to surround us and block out the sunlight. We sailed further into the island and I walked closer to the railing to get a better view of what was in front of us. Nobody said a word as we moved through the fog. I looked up to the cacti-looking hills and blinked when I caught a shadow moving on top but it disappeared as soon as it had come.

“Huh? Something’s moving,” Luffy spoke and I turned my head forward again where I noticed plenty of silhouettes had emerged.

“Humans? Humans are there!” Sanji called.

“Everyone, be careful,” Nami warned and I took a deep breathe although I had no idea how singing would help if these people had decided to attack us.

“Ahh, dammit! Since it’s come to this. I’ve prepared myself. Monsters or whatever you are, come on out!” Usopp freaked out with his knees shaking. I was starting to get scared from all his worrying as well but I kept a clear head. Nothing had happened yet and it was pointless to worry over nothing.

We soon broke out of the fog and were met with a cheering crowd. My eyes widened as I looked at the mass of people grinning at us like we were a group of celebrities and not a pirate crew. Cheers of welcomes and greetings were all we could hear from all around.

I locked eyes with several men and I smiled politely at them who in turn whistled and looked at me with hearts in their eyes. I giggled and waved at them for being nice but I guess someone got the wrong idea. Zoro snaked his arm around my waist for the first time that day and hugged me closer to him. I rolled my eyes at him but I didn’t pull away.

We slowly made our way to the docks which gave Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp more time absorb the praise. I had smiled at a few more people along the way as well but the men would quickly turn away when their eyes trailed over to Zoro.

When we finally docked, we all quickly departed the ship and were greeted by the mayor of Whiskey Peak with long hair that had been styled into large curls called Igarappoi.

“Okay. I’m Luffy. Nice to meet you,” Luffy raised his arm and pointed to the man’s hair, “Pops, you went overboard on curling your hair.”

“Whiskey Peak is a town that thrives on making liquor and music. Hospitality is the pride of our town,” Igarappoi said, ignoring Luffy’s comment.

“As for our proud liquor, it’s as bountiful as the seawater. Would you allow us to throw a party for you so that we may hear your tales of-- ma-ma-ma…,” He paused to clear his throat, “your tales of adventure?”

“We’ll be glad to!” I rolled my eyes as Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp immediately agreed and danced away. I furrowed my brows as I wasn’t entirely sure that getting wasted on a foreign land while surrounded by so many strangers was a good idea.

“Three idiots… say, by the way, how long will it take for the log of this island to be stored?” Nami asked the mayor.

“Log? Forget such boring stuff. Please just rest after such a long journey,” Igarappoi then walked behind Nami and grabbed her by the shoulder before calling out to his people, “ Now, everyone! Prepare for the party! Sing to entertain the adventurers!”

My ears perked when I heard the word “sing” and forgot all my previous worries. I had no trouble downing a few bottles of beer tonight as my father had forced me to drink so much that I had a high tolerance by now.

The townspeople had quickly ushered us all into a building and started distributing barrels of alcohol around while people played instruments around us. I clapped along to the music and laughed as I watched people have fun. I grabbed my jugs of beer and walked through the crowd and passed by where Usopp was telling a tale of his “heroic adventures.” I simply shook my head at his adorable lies and continued my trek back to where I had seen Nami and Zoro sitting earlier.

I sat next to Zoro on one of the couches and put down the beer I had in my hands. He quickly lifted me by the waist and put me on his other side, away from all the guys who had moved closer to my side once I sat down. I shook my head at his actions but I didn’t blame him. I had been accidentally pulled away by some men earlier and had just now gotten back to them.

I glanced at Nami as she took a sip from her jug and smirked when she liked it. Nami didn’t look like she could hold her liquor based on how she kept refusing to drink. Unfortunately, the mayor mentioned a contest and the prize being 100,000 berries.

“Another cup, please!” Nami demanded then turned to Zoro and I, “Zoro! Mai! You participate too! You don’t have money, do you?”

“What?!” Zoro whined. I grinned up at Nami and nodded at her. The alcohol they had here were more fruity than the sake my father had forced me to drink so I had no doubt that I’d still be sober no matter how much I drank.

I looked at Zoro and smirked. He turned to me with his eyebrow raised so I grabbed one of the jugs and downed it in one swift go. I turned back to him with a shit-eating grin as I challenged him and with a smirk, he accepted. That’s how we spent the next few hours.

“Whoa! Amazing! He finished his 10th cup!”

“This girl’s downing her 12th cup!”

“Hey, look! This girl just finished her 16th cup!”

I slammed my jug down next to the man who passed out on our table. Nami had definitely surpassed my expectations and Zoro was being too slow. I noticed he had been too busy watching me instead of actually drinking but I shrugged it away, thinking that he was too lazy to participate in Nami’s contest.

The rest of the party went along similarly. I was on my 20th cup and I still wasn’t even slightly buzzed. My father may be cruel and heartless but he unknowingly gave me a lot of skills I never thought I’d use. Zoro had given up on his 13th cup and fallen asleep with his head on my lap.

“What?! You’re hopeless, Zoro! Even Mai-chan is drinking more than you!” Nami scolded with a very evident red hue on her face which meant she was almost, if not already, wasted.

Right now, there were only three of us left in the competition. A nun, Nami, and I. They were both on the 15th cup and obviously were about to lose to me but I couldn’t take the victory away from Nami. I closed my eyes and feigned sleep as I dropped my mug on the floor then leaned my head back on the back of the couch.

“Ah! The other pirate girl is down! It’s down to two left!”

I kept my eyes closed as I listened to everyone around me. Luffy had just finished eating and fell on the floor along with three other people, Nami was cheering and laughing that she had won before thumping her head down on the table, Usopp was still awake but from the slur in his voice, he was obviously drunk too, and Sanji was drunk on love by how many girls I could hear giggling next to him. I kept myself from smiling as I had noticed that everyone was passed out. Except for Zoro.

He had fallen asleep on me so many times before that I knew how he acted in his sleep. He would wrap an arm around my waist and hug me tightly so I wouldn’t have any chance of escaping while sleeping quietly against me. Right now, his head was laying on my lap with his face turned toward my stomach and his arm draped over his side while he snored loudly. He was obviously awake for a reason and hadn’t drank anymore to stay sober. The only question was why.

The place had quieted down quickly once they noticed that “all” of us were heavily asleep and everyone had left. I assumed it was only because the “heroes of the sea” were done for the night but Zoro still continued to fake his sleep so I kept my eyes shut and tried to keep my breaths even.

I heard voices talking outside and recognized two of the voices belonged to the two who were on our ship with us earlier today. I felt movement on my lap and opened my eyes to see Zoro staring right at me. He held a finger up to his lip as if to tell me to keep quiet and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I was already mute and barely made a sound when I moved. How much more quiet could I get?

He smirked at me then grabbed my hand. We quickly moved to one of the open windows on the side of the building while some men were turned around and climbed out. I pointed to the stairs that looked like they lead up to the roof and he nodded. We quickly but quietly rushed up the stairs and looked down onto the four figures that stood in front of the building.

I narrowed my eyes as Igarappoi held up a wanted poster of Luffy with a bounty of 30 million berries. 30 million or 3 berries, it didn’t matter to me. Luffy was Luffy and these people wanted to hurt him and our other friends.

“If we kill them, the bounty drops by 30%. The governments wants to hold public executions,” my fists clenched at my side as I glared down at Igarappoi, “Go! Capture them alive!”

“Hey. Sorry, but…,” Zoro spoke up from next to me with one of his swords held up, “do you mind letting them sleep? They’re all exhausted from the journey this afternoon,”

I smirked at his words. If he hadn’t slept all day, he would probably be asleep inside too. The four people on the ground turned back with a gasp and looked up at us. A man called out to them from one of the side doors that we had gone missing but Miss Wednesday confirmed where we were.

“You bastards… I thought you two were completely asleep!” Igarappoi glared up at us.

Zoro grinned down at them, “Swordsmen never make the mistake of letting their guard down that much. And this songbird never sleeps,” I fought a smile at his nickname and smirked down at the large group of people forming under us instead.

“So, let’s see if I’ve got this right. This is a nest of bounty hunters. You dupe pirates who are in high spirits after having just entered the Grand Line… Looks like there’re about 100 bounty hunters here. We’ll fight you all, Baroque Works!” Zoro yelled which seemed to startle them all.

“You bastard! How is it that you know our company’s name?!” Igarappoi screamed back in surprise.

“When I used to be in a similar line of work, I was recruited by your company once. Naturally, I rejected it,” Flashes of Zoro telling me about how he had met Luffy and everyone else passed in my mind and I remembered him telling me that he had been a bounty hunter before meeting Luffy.

“Employees don’t know each other’s identity and are called by code names. Of course, the boss’ whereabouts and his identity are also a mystery even to them. Baroque Works is a criminal group that just faithfully carries out their orders. Humph! Was it a secret?” Zoro grinned as everyone below us started to sweat and figdet nervously that a couple of pirates now knew of their company.

“This is surprising… If you know of our secrets, then we have no other choice but to kill you,” I narrowed my eyes at the mayor. I may not be as strong as Zoro or any of the others but I would do everything I can to keep them from being killed.  
“Two more tombstones will be added to the Cactus Rocks,” Igarappoi threatened and I glared down at him. The only thing dying tonight was Nami’s stomach from all the alcohol she drank.

Zoro and I shared a quick look and nodded at each other. I could hold my own against these people and Zoro did not need me holding him down. I’d be able to run away quickly if anyone started getting close to me alone than if I had to wait for him. We had a better chance of surviving the night apart and he knew that.

Igarappoi flashed us an evil grin then pointed his finger at us and screamed, “KILL THEM!”

Before anyone could blink, Zoro disappeared from my side and left them frozen in their places. They all looked around to catch a glimpse of the swordsman but they wouldn’t find him. I smirked when I noticed the familiar head of green hair in the crown below looking up at me. Everyone around him jumped back and aimed their guns at him. They all fired but hit each other as Zoro disappeared once again.

Igarappoi turned and started barking orders but a blade cut through his hair and next to his face. Zoro was standing behind him with his hand raised as he held the sword in his hand and his signature smirk on his face.

“Let me ask you a question. Are you sure that you need to add only two gravestones?” I rolled my eyes at his cockiness and watched more people flank him with their guns pointed at him. Igarappoi freaked out and tried to stop them as he raised a horn to his lips and blew on it to bound the bullets back.

Zoro had disappeared again but I wasn’t worried about him. I smiled because he had successfully turned their attention away from me for a short while and made them forget about me. But it wasn’t long before someone remembered me again.

Their resolve came back as they realized I was still here. I ignored the looks they threw my way. It was a look I was familiar with. They looked at me like I was nothing but a small little mute girl who couldn’t do much. It was a look my father gave me everyday.  
I grinned as most of the people rushed and quickly made their way up to me. I calmly closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was feeling confident in my voice for once. A feeling I had never felt before. Before today, I sang only when I felt like it. But now, I had a purpose. I had a reason to sing and it was time to see if my supernatural abilities were worthy of actually being called “Devil” fruit powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a boring chapter but it's more of an intro to the arc anyway. Sorry for any grammatical and spelling errors I may have missed.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If you recognize the character or song, it doesn't belong to me.


End file.
